Bachmann leaving House, but her campaigns keep spending

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U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann will leave Congress within months, but her campaign committees continue to spend and raise donor dollars.

The committee formed for Bachmann's 2012 presidential run — which has faced multiple investigations related to its finances — spent more than $71,000 on legal fees in the second quarter, according to newly released reports to the Federal Election Commission.

Of that, $5,000 went to the campaign of GOP congressional candidate Tom Emmer, who's running to succeed Bachmann in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District.

Bachmann, R-Stillwater, isn't seeking a fifth term in the U.S. House, and her congressional campaign committee didn't collect any contributions last quarter. But the committee spent about $66,000, of which $15,000 was transferred to her presidential campaign.

Her congressional committee was sitting on more than $1.54 million in the bank to close the second quarter.

Bachmann has yet to say what she'll do with all that cash. A Bachmann spokesman didn't respond Friday to Times emails inquiring about it.

The fees for legal services for Bachmann's presidential campaign went to the Washington, D.C., firm of Williams & Connolly. About half of the more than $71,000 paid to the firm was to repay debt.

A Bachmann spokesman didn't respond Friday to Times emails inquiring about the legal fees.

Bachmann's presidential campaign faced multiple investigations in 2013, including from the U.S. House Ethics Committee, the Federal Election Commission and federal law enforcement.

Investigators from the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics found her campaign may have illegally used funds from Bachmann's leadership committee to pay for a presidential campaign consultant, and that she may have used campaign staff to promote her personal memoir. It also found Bachmann may have illegally used a book tour to promote her presidential bid.